text: Luis Rodriquez was coming home from work early Sunday morning when he saw smoke beginning to work its way through the upper left corner of 1530 Washington St. in Wilson Borough.
  The 33-year-old ran inside his home across the street, woke up his wife, called 911 and headed back out, he said Monday morning in front of the burned out shell which once was a home under renovation.
  A neighbor "was banging on this door," Rodriguez said, pointing east on Washington. "I was banging on theirs," he continued, pointing to Charlie Wacik's home at 1532 Washington that would be destroyed as the fire spread.
  Amid the mayhem, Rodriguez said he saw something else unusual.
  A man was running down the street. The man wasn't stopping to knock on doors, and Rodriquez "didn't keep track" of where the man went, because "that's when things went crazy" and the fire quickly roared through 1530 Washington.
  A man with burns on his hands was reported a block away, but auhtorities have yet to confirm if that person existed, if he was treated at a hospital and if he was living in the home.
  Blaze Odyssey, 43, who has lived across the street for 11 years, was still angry 24 hours after the fire.
  He said he "confronted" 1530 Washington's owner Tarek Osman about the property and personal losses in a fire that could have done even more damage.
  Odyssey, whose SUV was damaged by the heat, said that Osman replied, "Oh, but I lost a lot of money."
  "I bit my tongue," Odyssey said. "For a man to say something like that."
  Blaze torches 'Santa's' home
  A listed number of Osman on Monday morning in Forks Township was out of service.
  "Somebody has to be held responsible for these people losing their homes," Odyssey said. He plans on attending the next borough council meeting to request a "more effective ordinance toward (property) investors."
  Wacik, 74, on Monday was staying with his son, also named Charlie, 46, on the same block.
  The elder Wacik, his wife Marlowe, and their Bichon Zoe weren't hurt in the fire but Wacik was still upset about a blaze he said he saw coming.
  He had been calling the borough codes department about what he said was a dangerous situation.
  "My dad called this in months ago," Wacik's son said. "They were running heaters and air compressors late at night. ... The place was condemned. It didn't have running water. He said something was going to happen."
  "I knew it was going to happen," the elder Wacik added.
  The borough did intercede but people continued to live in the home as work was being done, neighbors said.
  Codes director Paul Corriere on Monday declined comment at the scene, saying "everything is being investigated."
  As the fire burned, "too much fishy stuff was happening," Wacik said. There was "popping" and a whooshing noise that raised Wacik's suspicions.
  He was waiting for his insurance agent and expected an adjuster later in the day, he said. Decisions about what to do next will have to wait for the numbers, his son said.
  "It's a difficult day, I guess," the elder Wacik said.
  The community, which the father served for nearly 46 years as a firefighter, has reached out. There are fundraisers underway and several people have offered places to stay, he said.
  Another slice of his life was left behind in a closet on the back of the second floor.
  "The other part was being Santa," he said. The suit his wife bought for $360 is still up there, but is likely ruined, he said.
  Sunday was supposed to be the day when he played Santa on a firetruck, delivering presents to borough children. It would have been the fifth year for that special duty, he said.
  "It broke my heart," he said, when the event was canceled due to the fire.
  His Santa duties have expanded in recent years to a breakfast at the library in the borough, to the tree lighting and he had a date to be the Jolly Old Elf at senior citizens bingo, which is run by his wife, he said.
  He had trouble with the spats to the suit, so his wife bought him boots, he said.
  But his Santa days aren't over, both he and his son said. Just put on hold.
  Wacik has seen many bad fires in his nearly five decades with the department -- he retires at the end of the month -- and he knows when you arrive at a blaze like Sunday morning's there are only two thoughts. It's either "Oh s*** or holy f***," he said with a knowing laugh.
  The home next door "was engulfed when we came out," he said.
  "... The owner had the nerve to stand there and say 'the money I lost.' What about me?"
  Police Chief Steven Parkansky said everyone in the area of the fire is accounted for and nothing appeared "criminal or suspicious."
  A state police fire marshal has joined the probe and it's ongoing, Parkansky said.
  As for the man with the burned hands, police may have an update later in the day, the police chief said.
  Tony Rhodin may be reached at arhodin@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyRhodin. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.